This last Saturday, my friend Mike and I went on a day trip to a ranch in the Palouse country. Mike got permission for us from the ranch owner so we could head past the skull and crossbones KEEP OUT signs they have everywhere, and not get shot at.

We stopped and talked to a ranch hand on the first stop at the bottom of a big canyon. He was working on a tractor in a shop. He kept whacking tennis balls out into the sagebrush for his Australian Shepherd to chase after, which was neat. The dog ran miles and never got tired. He told us about an old one-room schoolhouse in another direction from what we planned, so we had to check that out first.

On the way, we ran across the largest mule deer herd I've ever seen. There we at least 50 in that herd. They weren't too worried about us either. I took the photo where they're crossing the road thru the windshield. The object at the bottom is my GPS.

After that, we headed to the Columbia River. We ended up in a greenery zone that's managed by the state as a wildlife habitat. We felt like we were in the show "Off Limits" just to be there, as normally you can only get there via boat.

After maybe 15 miles of ranch road explorations, we popped out and headed to Palouse Falls. As you can see, there's lots of ice.

We're being watched.


Outside my side window.


Deer X-ing


The old school house.


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